A Guide to Summer Activities on Lopez Island

Iceberg Point 2014

We hope you enjoy the outdoors this summer! To help get you outside, the

San Juan Preservation Trust has put together some fun activities to connect

you and your family to the nature in your backyard and/or in your island

preserves. Be prepared to activate your imagination along the way!

Who we are: The San Juan Preservation Trust (SJPT) is a private, 501(c)(3) nonprofit,

nationally accredited land trust dedicated to helping people and communities

conserve land in the San Juan Islands of Washington State since 1979.

SJPT has successfully completed more than 300 land transactions that have

permanently protected more than 48 miles of shoreline, 28 miles of trail,

and 19,000 acres on 20 islands, including land now managed as public parks,

nature preserves, wildlife habitat, and working farms and forests. Before heading out: Please remember to plan ahead and prepare before visiting your Lopez Island

parks or preserves.

Please care for these special places by staying on designated trails, leashing

your pets, packing out what you pack in, and leaving no trace!

Please follow our San Juan County guidelines on social distancing while

outdoors.

Please have fun while learning!

Activity #1: Be a Birder at Watmough Bay Preserve Multiple land conservation organizations (the SJC Land Bank, the Bureau of Land

Management, and the San Juan Preservation Trust), along with tremendous

community support, worked together to protect this dramatically beautiful and

ecologically sensitive bay (and its view) from development. Fragile ecosystems are

left intact while also allowing you to visit and observe its natural wonders. One of

the natural wonders of this place is the number of bird species who live here.

There are an estimated 10,738 species of birds world-wide. For some people,

imagining finding every bird on this earth is a thrilling possibility that can turn into

a lifelong adventure. One example of a birding legend is ‘bird girl’ Mya-Rose Craig

who set the world record for being the youngest person to sight 5,000 birds. Mya-

Rose started birding at the age of 4 and by 17 has 5,369 birds (# from 2019) on

her “life-list”. That’s half the world’s bird species! A ‘life-list’ is a record of all the

different birds you have seen and have successfully identified. Start your “life-

list” at Watmough Bay Preserve!

“Bird girl” Mya-Rose Craig Photo by Helen Craig

& published in the Independent

You will need to:

• Pick at least one person in your family to be your birding buddy (two sets of

eyes are better than one).

• Pack a pair of binoculars and download the Merlin phone app from Cornell Lab

or pack a bird guide to help you identify birds.

• Check off the birds you see or hear (remember to travel slowly and quietly

so you can hear the bird songs and observe their movements all around you).

At Watmough Bay Preserve, can you add any of these birds to your

“life-list”?

Glaucous-winged Gull (all grey and white, no black on the tips of their wings)

Great Blue Heron (flies with an “S” shaped neck and legs well beyond its tail)

Belted Kingfisher (makes loud rattling sound when it prepares to take off or

dive towards the water)

Red-winged Blackbird (listen for conk-la-reeeeder)

Turkey Vulture (soars, rarely flaps, wings held in “V” shape)

Song Sparrow (sparrow with brown splotch in middle of chest)

Spotted Towhee (search along the edge of forests and in thickets, call

sounds like “Riiiight?”)

Dark-eyed Junco (white outer tail feathers flash in flight and while hopping

on the ground, bill is pale pinkish)

White-crowned Sparrow (song sounds like “oh me, oh pretty, pretty me”)

American Robin (Song sounds like “cheerily, cheer up, cheer up, cheerily,

cheer up”)

Did you find other birds that were not listed here? What were they?

Now that you are on your way to becoming a birder, imagine yourself 10

years from now. How many birds are on your “life-list”? What places will you

have visited to find these birds? Write, draw, or have a family member help

you here.”

Activity #2: Play Summer Bird Bingo! (choose your island preserve(s))

Using the Merlin Bird ID phone app or a bird identification guide will help

you win this game.

Take a photo of yourself with your card and share it with us!

White-crowned Sparrow Northern Flicker Dark-eyed Junco

Rufous Hummingbird

Bald Eagle Mallard

Red-breasted Nuthatch

American Goldfinch

Tree Swallow

Spotted Towhee

American Robin

Chestnut-backed Chickadee Turkey Vulture

Imagine your bird

Downy or Hairy Woodpecker

House Finch

Bushtit

Pacific Wren

Brown Creeper

Glaucous-winged Gull

Red-winged Blackbird

Song Sparrow

Great Blue Heron

Belted Kingfisher

Cedar Waxwing

Activity #2… Did you get a bingo? If so on what preserve(s)?

Create an imaginary bird living on Lopez Island.

What does it look like (what shape is the bill, are the feet meant for

perching or walking, how large are its wings, how many different colors does

it have, etc)?

What name would you call it?

What habitat does it live in? A habitat is a home of a bird. Being able to

connect specific birds with their habitats will help you become a better

birder!

Write, draw, or have a family member help you here.

Activity #3: Be a Bird Detective (choose your island preserve or backyard).

Remember that some birds can be identified by their call or behaviors

(Brown Creepers “creep” up trees and Common Yellowthroat songs sound like

“witchety-witchety-witchety”).

Be a bird detective. Find a quiet place and sit still and silent for ten

minutes.

If you see a bird, what is it doing?

If you hear a bird, what does it sound like to you?

Draw or write your answer.

Now that you’ve done some detective work, think up a story for an imaginary

bird.

What behaviors would it have?

What song would it sing?

Write, draw, or have a family member help with your story here.

Activity #4: Play Native Wildflower Bingo! (choose your island preserve(s))

Using the iNaturalist phone app or a plant identification guide will help you

win this game.

Take a photo of yourself with your card and share it with us!

Douglas’ Aster Nodding onion Orange Honeysuckle

Nootka Rose

Ocean Spray Pearly Everlasting Pacific Bleeding Heart

Self-heal

Stonecrop

Tiger Lily

Paintbrush

Yarrow

Rattlesnake Plantain Imagine your flower

Pacific Sanicle

Bi-colored Lupine Western Columbine

Howell’s brodaea

Indian Celery

Western Spirea

Hooker’s Onion Larkspur

Salal

Sea Blush Harvest Brodiaea

Activity #4… Did you win bingo? If so, what preserve(s) did you find the most flowers on?

Create an imaginary flower growing on Lopez Island.

What does it look like (what color are the flower petals, what shape are the

leaves, do the roots grow deep or do they spread along the ground, etc.)?

What about scent? What type of pollinators would be attracted to this

flower? A pollinator is an animal or insect that moves pollen from flower to

flower, assisting with the flower’s life cycle.

Write, draw, or have a family member help you here.

Thanks for playing, we hope you had FUN!